Halo:Survival Evolved
by TheShadowedHunter
Summary: A UNSC force is sent to establish a mining colony on the planet of Krylon. When the ship crash lands on the remote planet however, there is no way home, and the survivors are forced to adapt to their circumstances. Takes place in an AU, six years after Halo 3. Edit:Come on guys, I need some reviews!
1. Chapter One:Survival Evolved

**So, this is Halo:Survival Evolved. I came up with this after playing the game Subnautica, because the idea of a ship crashing on a planet, leaving the survivors to fend for themselves appeals to me. That said, there are several key differences.**

 **survivors.**

 **Universe.**

 **planet has land.**

 **Enjoy, read and reveiw!**

 **-Shadow**

John 117 groaned as he pulled a large chunk of metal off of his legs and stood up. The sky above him was cloudless, the ocean, a clear blue, both in stark contrast to the remains of the UNSC _Razor's Edge_. The bridge had collapsed nearly a mile beyond him, and past that, he could see rocky cliffs and a tall, black structure. The light cruiser had been transporting a work crew to build a new mining colony here, on the remote planet of Z-926, or Krylon. In addition, it had held several Spartans, a small force of regular UNSC soldiers, and, since Krylon technically belonged to the United Sangheili Council, a small group of Sangheili troops from the Swords of Sanghelios, the planet's dominant faction. Among them had been Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, John's friend and ally.

' _Hope he wasn't killed in the crash._ '

Over Krylon, the cruiser had experienced a sudden failure of all systems. Out of his armor at the time, John had been halfway to the life pod docking array on impact.

' _Guess I really do have luck on my side._ ' he thought as he moved through the rubble, stepping carefully over the charred corpse of a crew member.

A few meters away, a movement caught his eye. The door of a mostly intact life pod, which had clearly not been launched, had opened, and a person stepped out. He raised his hand as she came closer, allowing him to inspect his fellow survivor.

She wore the civilian clothes of one of the miners, her shirt ripped in a few spots. Dirt and ash smeared her pale skin and her blonde hair was coated with the stuff. She limped towards him.

"You alright?" he called out.

"Yeah. I hurt my leg on landing, but I'm pretty sure it's not broken."

"I'm John. Spartan 117, Petty Officer Master Chief."  
"Shayla. I'm one of the explosive technicians for the mine."

"Alright Shayla, what do you think we should do."

"I think our best bet is to work our way up to the bridge," she pointed to the ruin of the massive structure, "and keep an eye out for other survivors along the way."

"Good thinking. There should be a distress beacon in the bridge, if it survived, we can call for help."

The two had already begun to move forward, picking their way through the rubble, when Shayla let out a yelp.

"Wait a sec!" she shouted before dashing back the way they'd come.

A few minutes later, she returned with a handheld radio and two bottles of water. She tossed him a bottle and held up the radio.

"Every life pod has one. We can use this to make contact with any pods that launched, see how many people made it!"

"Good idea. For now, let's get going. If we get up on the bridge, we'll have a better chance of reaching the pods since we'll have more range."

Sliding the water bottle in his pocket, he set off into the wreckage, preparing himself for the chance that they were the only survivors.

Rtas 'Vadum watched as Thel slammed his fist into the wall of their life pod, rage flashing in his eyes.

"Damnit!" the Arbiter roared collapsing onto the pod's seat. Rtas hooked his claws on the ladder and poked his head out the top hatch as his commander let out another string of curses.

The pod was anchored now, due to his own realization that if they were drifting at sea, they could quickly end up too far from the wreck of the ship to make it back and search for survivors. About a mile away, he could see the twisted remains of the ship's bridge, the rubble peering through the smoke of the crash. The armory was missing entirely, and the life pod docking bay had broken off on entry, landing on the opposite side of a small island where the ship had crashed. Beyond the bridge, he could see high cliffs and, past that, a tall, black structure jutting into the sky.

He slid back down the ladder, preparing to tell Thel about their situation, but before he could, the pod's radio crackled with static and blazed to life.


	2. Chapter Two:Supplies Motherfucker

**Chapter two, this one focuses more on the Sangheili and is a bit longer.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Read and Review.**

 **-Shadow**

" _Pod 268? This is Sierra One-One-Seven, come in pod 268!_ "

Thel lunged for the radio, flicking it on and responding.

"This is Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, pod 268. I have Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum with me. Where are you?"

" _The ship's bridge. I've linked up with several of the miners, and some Marines. The distress beacon here is destroyed, but we've found a functional Falcon. Launch your emergency flare, we'll come get you._

"Right." Thel turned to Rtas, pressing the flare into his hand. "Go to the top and launch this." Speaking into the radio, he added, "We're to the west of the crash site, look for our flare."

" _Alright Thel, see you on the other side._ "

"And you, Demon."

As the Falcon flew away from the life pod, the small group of Shayla, John, Thel, and Rtas heard an ear-splitting howl. Thel spun the mounted minigun he was sitting behind and readied it, pointing the barrel at a massive creature.

It was reptilian, like a massive snake with long feathered wings. Two arms ending in reptilian hands were curled under its body. Its serpent-like head and tail were adorned with feathers in all colors of the rainbow, similar to it's wings, and intelligence glinted in its eyes.

"There's no bullets in the guns. The only reason this Falcon survived the crash is because it wasn't in the vehicle bay. It had just finished repairs and was still in the shop."

"Damn. If that thing chooses to end us…"

"Then we're fucked."  
"My thoughts exactly."

As they neared the wreck, the creature followed them still, but fled as six more survivors appeared from the ruins. As the group disembarked from the gunship, John introduced them to the Sangheili.

"Everyone, this is Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum."  
One of the six, a man dressed in the uniform of a UNSC Marine stepped forward.

"I'm Sergeant Max Vaughner. The others Marines are Anna and Jack." He gestured to the other two soldiers, a brunette with a scar across her face, and a tall redheaded man. Jack grinned, and spoke.

"It's an honor to meet you, Spartan. You probably don't remember, but we were at Installation 04 with you. You saved our unit from the Flood."  
"Glad to see you've kept yourself alive since."

The sergeant waved his hand and gestured to the other three.

"The other three are miners. Aiden, Jared, and Simon."

John and the two Sangheili nodded, and Thel spoke.

"Now that we are all together, we need to prepare our next move. Judging by the monster we saw on the way here, this planet has animals. We do not know what kinds yet, so I advise that we find some form of shelter before nightfall. We have no idea what kind of nocturnal predators live on this world, after all."

"True, but what do we do? Where do we go?"

John stepped forward, taking charge.

"I say we hold out here for the night. Tomorrow we load up the Falcon. We only have enough fuel to get from here to those cliffs, back here, and then back to those cliffs, but we should be able to get over there. Tomorrow morning we'll gather whatever we can from the wreck and move out."

"That sounds like the best option available." Rtas said.  
"Then we're agreed. Everyone find somewhere to sleep. We've got hard work ahead."

The next morning, the group spread out through the wreck, gathering supplies. They found almost nothing. Enough food for the group to survive the day, a single magnum and 20 rounds, an energy sword with no power left, and four slightly charred backpacks. They loaded what they had up, and the first five loaded it up on the gunship, and took off.

John stood next to Max, who sat in the pilot's seat, and pointed to a small clearing in the forest below.

"Set it down there. We'll unload it. Then you go back for the others."

Thel, Rtas, John, and Shayla quickly unloaded their meager supplies, and the Falcon took off, heading back towards the wreck. Two hours passed, and the gunship had not come back. Standing up, John walked over to the edge of the cliff, and flicked on his radio.

"Anna come in. Where are you?"

"John? Where are _you_? Max never came back. We heard an explosion…" her voice trailed off.

"If you heard an explosion, Max is probably dead. Fortify your position and see if you can find more supplies in the wreck. It may take a day or so, but there's plenty of wood here, and we can get down to the beach. We'll find a way to get you over here."  
"John, if we don't find anything, you have all our food. We might starve before you can get us…"

"You'll find something."

'But if we don't.."

"You will!"

He strode back into the makeshift camp.

"Guys. We have a problem."


	3. Chapter Three:Character Info

**This is less a chapter and more an informational bit, Profiles for our ten characters.**

 **Remember, they're now separated. John, Shayla, Thel, and Rtas are on land, Max is missing, and Anna, Jack, Jared, Simon, and Aidan are still in the wreck.**

 **-Shadow**

Master Chief/John 117

Species:Human

Gender:Male

Occupation:Spartan II

Height:6ft 6in

Appearance: Number one buzzcut, brown hair, blue eyes, Muscular and tall.

Age:26

Trained as a soldier from age six, John saw his first battle at age 12, Now at age 24, he's an accomplished fighter and leader. He can pilot most UNSC vehicles and use all UNSC weapons due to his training. You know his story.

Arbiter Thel 'Vadam

Species:Sangheili

Gender:Male

Occupation:Arbiter/Kaidon of house Vadam

Height:7ft 3in

Appearance:A grey-skinned Sangheili he has golden eyes and is powerfully built. He is one of the tallest of his species.

Age:34

Trained in combat and battle tactics from a young age, he was brought up to be a leader of his people. At age sixteen, he joined the Covenant Military, earning the name Vadamee. By twenty he was commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice. At 27 he lead the attack on the Human world of Reach, ending in the planet's glassing. He followed an escaping ship, the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, and stumbled across the first Halo Ring, leading to the battle of Installation 04. The ring was destroyed and he was given the shameful rank of Arbiter and branded for failing to protect it. He went on to learn the truth about the Halo Rings and join Master Chief in defeating the Covenant Empire. He then led his loyal forces in taking control of Sanghelios and establishing the United Sangheili Council to govern Sanghelios and it's colonies.

Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum

Species:Sangheili

Gender:Male

Occupation:Shipmaster

Height:7ft

Appearance:Slightly shorter than his closest friend and commander, Thel 'Vadam, Rtas has a light gray skin tone and green eyes. His defining feature is the absence of his two left mandibles, lost in a skirmish with Flood during the Battle of Installation 04.

Age:34

An attachment to House Vadam, and a distant relative of the Vadam family, Rtas Vadum is close friends with the Kaidon, Thel 'Vadam. He server under Thel in the Fleet of Particular Justice, fighting for his friend as Shipmaster of his flagship. He was involved in the battles of Installation 04 and the Fall of Reach, to name a few. He has an unusual amount of sympathy for the former member of the lower classes in the Covenant, such as the Unggoy and the Kig-Yar. He served alongside Thel again during the Covenant Civil War, or Great Schism, and fought alongside John 117 in multiple battles.

Sergeant Max Vaughner

Species:Human

Gender:Male

Occupation:UNSC Marine, Sergeant

Height:6ft 1in

Appearance:Black hair, military styled cut. He has green eyes and is of african descent.

Age:28

Max Vaughner joined the UNSC Marines at age 17. By 22 he was leading a squad stationed at the Sword Base on Reach. A year later, during the Fall of Reach, they were re-deployed to assist with the fighting in New Alexandria, coming into contact with Nobles Six and Two during the fateful night of it's glassing. Vaughner's squad was evacuated and re-deployed again, this time to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, which fled the planet, stumbling upon Installation 04, a Halo Ring. During the battle of Installation 04, the squad was pinned down by Flood, and were saved by Master Chief.

Anna Vitavosky

Species:Human

Gender:Female

Occupation:UNSC Marine

Height:5ft 9in

Appearance:Anna is a Brunette of Ukrainian descent, with pale skin and blue eyes. She wears her hair long, in a ponytail, and has a scar running across her face, obtained at the Battle of Installation 04 during a fight with a group of Special Ops Sangheili.

Age:22

Anna has served with and under Sergeant Vaughner since she joined the UNSC Marines at age 17. She fought in the battles of New Alexandria and both Battles of Sword Base during the Fall of Reach, and fought at the Battle of Installation 04, during which her squad was rescued from a horde of Flood by John 117, and she received her scar.

Jack O'Riley

Species:Human

Gender:Male

Occupation:UNSC Marine'

Height:6ft 1in

Appearance:Jack O'Riley is a tall man with red hair and green eyes. He has noticeable freckles, and an earring in his left ear.

Age:22

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Jack O'Riley Joined the UNSC Marines at 17, fighting under Max Vaughner at the Battles of New Alexandria and both Battles of Sword Base on Reach. He was in the Battle of Installation 04, where John 117 saved his squad from the Flood, personally pulling an injured Jack from the fight. His unit was re-deployed to an outer colony afterward, and did not see battle for the rest of the war. Jack has a fondness for good beer and a certain Ukrainian Marine.

Shayla Anderson

Species:Human

Gender:Female

Occupation:Mining Technician

Height"6ft 3in

Appearance:Shayla is a tall blonde woman from Australia. She has green eyes, and tan skin.

Age:25

Growing up on Earth during the war, Shayla never really saw the effects of the war. She had no family in the UNSC, and even when the war came to Earth, it was still an ocean away. She graduated her university with a major in engineering and was hired by the Auterra Mining Company as a technician. After the end of the war, AUterra entered a deal with the UNSC and the United Sangheili Council to build a mining colony on Krylon, and she was sent on the mission.

Jared Malcolm

Species:Human

Gender:Male

Occupation:Miner

Height:5ft 11in

Appearance:Black hair, blue eyes. He has a dark complexion.

Age:26

Jared was born on Reach and taken to Earth during the fall of Reach. He is a miner for the AUterra Mining Company. His family didn't make it off Reach, and he has no family and few friends on Earth, one of the reasons he volunteered for the Krylon Mission.

Aiden Avkiar

Species:Human

Gender:Male

Occupation:Miner

Height:5ft 10in

Appearance:Long blonde hair, brown eyes. He has pale skin and an eastern European look.

Age:26

Born on Reach, Aidan and his family were evacuated to a mining colony owned by AUterra Mining. He was hired by the company as a miner and joined the Krylon Mission for large pay raise.

Simon Stevenson

Species:Human

Gender:Male

Occupation:Miner

Height:5ft 7in

Appearance:Short black hair, brown eyes. He is of African descent, and has an English accent.

Age:35

He was born on a mining colony run by AUterra, and eventually was hired as a miner. He has a wife and kids on Earth.


	4. Chapter Four:Hunting interlude

**Chapter four, this one is kind of split. Short, nothing really major in this one. Sorry. Enjoy.**

 **-Shadow**

Jared screamed in terror and pain as a massive bat-like creature swooped down and hooked him with its talons. Anna raised her scavenged assault rifle and fired off several burst of fire, causing the creature to screech in pain and drop Jared with a sickening crunch. Simon dashed from cover and pulled his friend under cover as more of the bat monsters swooped down to claw at the group. Jack raised his magnum and fired. Another one flew away, but a second swooped down and hooked his shirt, taking off with the redhead in its claws. He fired again and it dropped him from 20 feet up. He fell, rolling as he hit the ground and ducked under a chunk of rubble as another struck at him.

Anna flicked on the radio and shouted.

"John! We've got a problem! These giant fucking bat things are attacking us!"

Simon screamed in the background and she fired again.

"Shit! We lost Simon!"

" _Anna, there's not much we can do! Get the others under some cover and wait them out._ "

"On it."

The radio faded to static and she rushed from cover, firing her gun at the creature holding Simon. With a howl of fury it hurled him into the bridge, and he fell to the ground, dead. She dove back into the rubble, dragging Jared and Aiden with her, and watching as Jack ducked down elsewhere.

John woke to thuds and scraping. He stood, ready to fight, but there was no need. Nothing was attacking, it was the two Sangheili making weapons. Rtas held a bow made from a tree branch and a thick elastic cord they had scavenged from the ship. Thel was bent over a large rock, and when he turned, he held two stone-tipped spears, and passed on to John.

"Thanks."

"Of course. Rtas and I are going to search for food. Are you coming?"

"Sure." He turned and shook Shayla awake.

"What's going on?"  
"We're going hunting. You coming?"

"I'll stay here. I'd probably make things harder."  
Thel gestured to the rock he had been using as a workbench, pointing to a short object on it.

"I made a knife, if you want it. I already have one."

"Thanks."

The three soldiers set off, weapons ready deeper into the forest.

The moved for almost an hour, stopping as they reached a fast-moving stream. Thel pointed to a massive bird, drinking from the water, and called to the others in a hushed shout.

"There."

Nodding in understanding, Rtas readied one of his arrows and fired. The bird squealed in pain and turned to run. In one smooth motion, Thel cocked his arm back and hurled his spear, bringing down the creature. Moving over to it, John grinned.

"I've seen these on Reach. It's called a Moa, they taste pretty good."  
"Fortunate for us, I suppose."

"Agreed."

Thel hefted the bird, large enough to feed their group for a few days, and the group headed back to their camp.


	5. Chapter Five:Damage Control

Cortana groaned as she woke up. To her left stood Halsey.

"It looks like we successfully put your consciousness in a human body, Cortana. How do you feel?"

"Strange. Really strange. Where's John? I thought he would be here."

"I hoped you wouldn't ask," Halsey said, "It seems our favorite Spartan had a mishap enroute to a planet picked by AUterra for a new mining colony. The ship he was on, UNSC _Razor's Edge_ has gone missing. Their distress beacon never activated, and we have no idea where the ship went down. We have units scouring the system we know they were in, but we've found nothing as of yet. John seems to have the luck of the devil, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Maybe…" the former AI murmured.

"However, we have more pressing matters to attend to. It appears that one of our colonies on Sivard has a problem. Namely, the Jiralhanae Tribal Confederacy has decided to annex the planet. You're going along with the relief force."

"I'm not a fighter…"

"You are now. That body has all the same cybernetics and enhancements as a Spartan, and we have Mjolnir armor for you as well. You'll be working with a team of Spartan fours, several of whom were Spartan threes. Two of them are survivors of Reach, and should be a bit familiar to you. Go meet your team."

Cortana quickly outfitted herself in her new armor, decorated with the same designs her old avatar had, and headed down to the debriefing room. A small group of Spartans stood. One, dressed in heavy armor with an EVA helmet, decorated with a skull design, stepped forward.

"Name's Emile, I'm leading this op. The others are Jun, Val, and, Blaze." he said, gesturing to the others. Jun wore armor clearly designed for recon, with a visor, camo, and a uplink on the helmet. His armor was green. Val had jet black armor in a heavy grenadier style, while Blaze wore orange and red armor with a Haz-op helmet and and defensive styled armor.

"I'm Cortana, but I bet you knew that."

"Yeah."

"Cool, works for me. Welcome to Noble. I'm Noble one, Jun is two, Val and Blaze are three and four respectively. You're five."

John was not having a good day. He sat curled up under a tree, suddenly facing the reality of being armorless. From age 12 to 26 he had practically lived in his armor. This was the first time he had been without his gear for more than two days since he had been 13, and he was not alright. Without the armor came a feeling of vulnerability, and worse it felt wrong. His armor was part of him, a part of his identity, and with the thing that made him a Spartan removed, what was left?

"John? You ok?"

Shayla was shaking him, her hands on his shoulder.

"Not really, no." he groaned, forcing himself to his feet and looking around. He could see Thel and Rtas working on their raft, despite the fact that they'd lost contact with the other survivors after the monster attack. They had never found Max, or the Falcon. He looked away, thinking, and suddenly, Thel was standing with him.

"The raft is complete, all that remains is to see if it floats."

"Let's do it."

In minutes they were at the bottom of the cliffs, following a path Rtas had found, and they had the raft in the water. Shayla jumped in excitement.

"It fucking floats! We did it!"

"Yeah. Now let's hope the others are still alive."

They climbed on as Thel held the makeshift boat steady, before leaping on and passing John an oar. The two pushed, and the raft began to turn, heading towards the wreck. They dodged chunks of the ship, swerving with deft strokes of the oars.

Soon, they landed where they had started their journey all those days ago, by the ship's bridge. It was a horror scene.

Blood was everywhere, and spent bullet casings littered the ground. So much blood.

"Our comrades no longer live. We should move on, we are far to exposed here."

"Yeah. This is a bad spot to be."

Defeated, the group returned to their raft and headed for their camp.

Sakva Rishanee stood on the bridge of a Sangheili ship, _Obscured Intent_. Below him was Planet Z-926, Krylon. It's vast blue oceans and dense forests stretched out below like a painting, and the Sangheili Shipmaster raised his hand.

"Load up search crews onto Phantoms and get the Banshees moving, this is where the _Razor's Edge_ went down. We are not far from the Arbiter's last point of contact, which means the UNSC ship is near. And bring us into orbit."

The ship began to fall into orbit as the first three Phantoms cleared it's hanger and took off. One of his commanders shouted.

"Shipmaster! There appears to be a large mass of energy forming on the planet's surface."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell!" Another Sangheili leaned towards his display.

"It looks like some sort of ion blast. It's coming from a tower on the planet's surface."

"Sir, the energy has been discharged!"

Rishanee hissed.

"Evasive maneuvers! Bring us out of range, _now_!"

"We're too slow! It's headed right for us!"

Something slammed into the cruiser, and the ship rocked from the hit

"Shipmaster! We've been hit!"

"All power is out! We're done!"

"Sir, the back of the ship is breaking away!"

Rishanee took a deep breath, preparing himself. He flicked a switch, activating the intercom across the ship.

"This is Shipmaster Rishanee. We've been struck by a massive energy pulse. The rear of the ship has broken away, and we are going down. All personnel are to evacuate via the life pods. Good luck to you all." He turned, flicking another switch, activating the emergency broadcast signal.

"This is Shipmaster Rishanee of the United Sangheili ship _Obscured Intent_. We have sustained a fatal ion blast over Krylon. The planet itself seems to destroy any ship that attempts to orbit it. Under no circumstance should any other ships come to rescue us, they will meet the same fate we have. This is my final message. Avoid Krylon at all costs!" he cut the broadcast and gestured to his officers.

"Well? What are you waiting for? We need to leave, or we shall all perish!"

Spurred into action, his officers moved to the bridge life pod, followed by Rishanee.

John and Thel watched from their camp as the Sangheili cruiser broke apart over Krylon from the blast that had arced from the mountains nearby. As the ship exploded, several small shapes arced from the blast.

"Life pods. We must find them and see if there are any survivors."

"Yeah."

Thel quickly tacked up a note explaining his and John's absence, and the two dashed off into the forests.


End file.
